Sticky Date Pudding

High sugar Friday night!!! I fell in love with sticky date pudding after my very first try on my birthday night dinner. I was looking around for a good recipe and I found this online which had been classed as a 4 stars recipe. The pudding turned out good but the sauce tasted a bit weird to me. Well, will keep looking for a better recipe ;-)

Ingredients
60 g butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1¼ cups chopped dates
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1½ cups self-raising flour
dash vanilla

Sauce
¼ cup golden syrup
125 g butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup thick cream

Method
Mix the dates and bicarbonate soda in a bowl. Pour over the boiling water and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
Cream the butter and the sugar.
Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.
Fold in sifted flour and stir in date mixture and vanilla.
Pour into a greased, rectangular, ovenproof dish.
Cook for 30-40 minutes at 170°C or until firm when touched in the centre.Sauce
Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup. Stir until dissolved.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.
Cut the pudding into squares and serve with the sauce, cream and/or icecream